


playing with the strings of fate

by ifonlyicouldwrite



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda?, Light Angst, Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, anyways someone drew a comic abt this so i. uh. wrote it. hope you enjoy lmaooo, here's to all my alivebur apologists :), if anyone waiting for an update on another one of my series is reading this no you arent ❤, it's not too bad I swear, no beta we die like wiLBUR WONT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29368533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifonlyicouldwrite/pseuds/ifonlyicouldwrite
Summary: Everyone knew the story of L'Manburg. A nation divided, torn apart from the outside in. A country, reduced to ashes and dust with the push of a single button. A drama fit for the Greeks in its tragic end.Knowing the story, anyone would change it..Someone does.(or, Tommy finds Wilbur instead of Phil, and history is rewritten)
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 18
Kudos: 270
Collections: Cheshire's MCYT recs!





	playing with the strings of fate

**Author's Note:**

> yo!! i'm, uh, briefly back!! burnout let me write one (1) thing bc of a motivation boost, and this happened to be it :)
> 
> anyways, this is just a little oneshot based off of a comic about. well. this DFJKSHKS. (their @ is "theellipelli" on tumblr). very good 10/10 😌
> 
> warnings for cursing and I think that's it? hope you enjoy!!

Tommy cheered as Tubbo climbed the stage, a joyful grin etched onto his face despite the wary feeling settling at the pit of his stomach. Something felt… _off_ about the celebration. A foreboding feeling akin to the calm before the storm—a moment of peace before the chaos.

“I’ll be back, I’ll be back.” Tommy’s smile faltered as Wilbur walked away from the crowd, shoulders hunched. He wouldn’t have paid it any mind— _shouldn’t_ have—but a flash of swirling pink and green drew his eyes back to his brother, beckoning him to follow.

Tommy yelled a quick, “be back in a minute” before rushing to follow Wilbur’s footsteps. _It’s probably nothing,_ he assured himself, doing his best to keep quiet as he trailed behind the brunet’s shadow, _he's coming around fine, we'll be ok—  
_

His thoughts screeched to a halt when he saw Wilbur near the hill on the outskirts of L'Manburg. He watched, heart dropping, as Wilbur pried open the stone gateway, mumbling about “Chekhov’s Gun” before sealing it up tightly behind him.

He rushed to enter the hallway but found he had no pickaxe to break through the stone. Blood flecks and shallow scrapes littered his hands as he began clawing through the cobble blocking the entry, despair and terror coursing through his veins. 

“ _Please, please, please_ ,” he whispered, clumsily climbing through the gap he’d made into the dreary room. Dread coiled tightly around Tommy’s neck, forming a lump in his throat as Wilbur’s terse laugh bounced off the walls.

“Wilbur?” His voice came out thick and broken, as though he were talking through tears. Tommy watched his brother’s shoulders tense as he whipped around to face the blond, nearly dropping his communicator in the process. 

“Wil,” he gave a desperate chuckle, a stiff smile painting his fearful face, “ _what are you doing?_ ” His voice came out steadier than before, yet his hands couldn’t seem to stop shaking.

“I—I’ll… call you back, Phil,” he said calmly, slowly placing his communicator into his trench coat pocket, ignoring the muffled protests that cut off from the device. “Tommy. Why the _fuck_ are you here.”

“I could ask the same thing, Wil.” A moment of silence engulfed the pair, broken only by Tommy’s quick breathing. Finally, Wilbur broke, wide eyes scanning the scribbles on the walls.

“Tommy, look at this place! That’s not—this isn’t _my_ L’Manburg anymore! The—the _song_ on the walls—the ‘special place’ is _dead_ . It’s… it’s _gone_.” His voice cracked, and only then did Tommy notice Wil’s hands were shaking too.

“We can get it back! We can rebuild, we can _heal_ ,” he pleaded, taking a step closer to the brunet. “ _Please,_ don’t do this.”

“ _TOMMY I’M ALWAYS SO CLOSE TO PRESSING THIS BUTTON!_ ” He cried, his voice tearing through the still atmosphere surrounding them. Tommy couldn’t suppress the sharp flinch at the sound of his shout. A shadow crossed Wilbur’s face as he watched the teen shrink away from him. “Tommy. _Tommy, leave._ Go—go back to the celebration and stay away from this room. _Go_.”

“What the fuck?! I’m not going without you, you prick! I _told_ you we can _get better_ ! I _know_ we can, I _know_ yo—”

“I’m the traitor,” he said through gritted teeth. Tommy felt the world slow to a stop. “I made a deal with Dream. I’m sorry Tommy. I have no fucking _choice_. It’s over.”

_Down with the revolution, boys!_

Tommy let out a single cry as he brought up his shield behind Wilbur, knowing he was too late to keep his hand away from the button. He could feel the strings of fate tangling and untangling before his eyes, slipping through his fingers and just out of his grasp.

“ **_It was never meant to be._ **”

The sound of screams and explosions bombarded his ears, dirt and debris coating the ground on which they stood. Tears streaked down the blond’s face as Wilbur pushed away from his hold, sobs bubbling up his own throat.

“ _My L’Manburg, Tommy_. My unfinished symphony… forever unfinished.” 

In another world, those words sounded victorious—hysterical. In another world, Wilbur laughed at the destruction he’d reaped. 

This is not that world. 

In this world, they sounded broken and hollow—like a promise of harmony that had come up dissonant. In this world, Wilbur saw the scars on the land he once called home and wept for all he had lost. 

“If I can’t have it… no one can,” he hiccuped. From the ground level, their friends—their _family_ —watched the pair in dismay as Wilbur procured a sharp diamond sword from his coat, shakily tossing it into Tommy’s hands. Confusion and despair clawed at them from the inside out, but all they could do was stand in silent horror as their teary voices echoed through the ruins of L’Manburg. 

“Kill me, Tommy. Tommy, _kill me_ . _Tommy? Kill me_ ,” he pleaded, falling onto his knees. “Tommy, _stab me with a sword, murder me now._ **_Kill me._ **”

“Wil, I _can’t_ —”

“MurderInnit, _MurderInnit, do it._ I know you want to. Look, they _all_ want y—”

“Will you _shut the fuck up?!_ ” Tommy cried, throwing the sword into the canyon where their nation once stood. “I am _NOT_ going to _fuckin_ kill you! Are you _mad?!_ ”

“YES?” he shouted, pulling out an iron ax and shoving it into the blond’s hands. “Tommy, _look._ Look at what I’ve done! The nation we built—the nation _you_ helped build… gone. With the press of a single button. All of the work, all of that time. _Gone_.”

Tommy finally took a second to survey the damage done by the TNT, his breath catching in his chest as he stared into the canyon their home had become. “ _L’Manburg…_ ” he whispered, wiping away his tears with his calloused hands.

“Do it. _Do it_.” Wilbur ducked his head, bracing himself for the impact of metal upon sullied flesh.

The impact never came.

Instead, Tommy pulled him into a stiff hug, shaking shoulders harshly colliding with his own. “ _No_ . We’re gonna heal. We’re gonna rebuild. I _know_ we can. We’ll—we’ll do it together. As long as we’re alive, L’Manburg lives on. _Please_ , let L’Manburg live on a little longer.”

Wilbur let out a broken laugh, clenching his fists as he cried out, “why don’t you hate me?! _Why aren’t I dead?_ ”

“ _Because!_ " Tommy rolled his eyes, fighting down his exasperation. "I still care for you, you _stupid_ bitch! I _believe_ in you—always have. I _believe_ that you can get _better_! _Listen_ , I know you’ve hurt… a lot of people. And you’ve done…” he glanced at the ruins of his homeland, taking in a shaky breath, “ _fucked up_ things. But… you’re _not_ irredeemable. If—if you’re willing to _try_ with me, I _really do believe_ we can heal. We can rebuild our home. We can—we can be… happy. _Safe_ . L’Manburg may be a bit broken, but it’s _not_ beyond repair.”

“My L’Manburg—” 

“ _Our_ L’Manburg, Wil.” A beat of stiff silence passed before Wilbur heaved a heavy sigh and scrubbed his puffy eyes.

  
“… _our_ L’Manburg, Toms.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope y'all have a nice day and that this was a good read fkjsljgfsd <3
> 
> also!! comments are appreciated!! even if it's just a keysmash!! <3


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